Hayward, CALIFORNIA

Yeah. Everyone wants their kindergartners pledging not to use anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender language.

October 31, 2008 - "School Clams Up on 'Gay' Pledge Cards Given to Kindergartners"

A California school system refuses to say what action, if any, it will take after it received complaints about a kindergarten teacher who encouraged her students to sign "pledge cards" in support of gays.

(Click graphic to enlarge.)

During a celebration of National Ally Week, Tara Miller, a teacher at the Faith Ringgold School of Arts and Science in Hayward, Calif., passed out cards produced by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network to her class of kindergartners.

The cards asked signers to be "an ally" and to pledge to "not use anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) language or slurs; intervene, when I feel I can, in situations where others are using anti-LGBT language or harassing other students and actively support safer schools efforts."

The school has acknowledged that the exercise was not appropriate for kindergartners.

The district said the pledge cards were intended for middle school and high school students.
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Dear Teacher,

Why don't you leave us alone and let us be children? And take your stupid politics to Berkeley or someplace else. What's wrong with kindergartners having a safe and protected childhood?

Thank you,
Jennifer

Outrageous on so many levels

You won't believe what the psychiatrist said.

September 24, 2008 - Another one of those, "Only in Canada" stories, except you fear that any number of whacko NE states would rule the same way.

A former high school teacher who admitted to sexually abusing eight of his students has been granted day parole, in part because a program for sexual deviants is not offered in English at the penitentiary where he is incarcerated.

Renwick Spence, 79, received a 30-month sentence in December after pleading guilty to indecent assault and gross indecency. His crimes, involving eight boys age 13 to 16, were committed between 1967 and 1981 while he was a biology teacher at Montreal West High School. He retired from teaching in 1984.

After appearing before the National Parole Board recently, two board members determined Spence is ready for release to a halfway house if he follows strict conditions. ...

During the parole hearing, Spence admitted there could have been more victims than the eight former students who filed complaints against him.

One condition of Spence's release is that he follow a treatment program "aimed at addressing his sexual deviancy" when a space becomes available at an unidentified halfway house. His case management team recommended the release in part because a similar treatment program is not available in English at the institution where he is serving time.

If Spence wants to leave the halfway house during his six-month stay, he must make a formal application that Correctional Service Canada will evaluate before the leave is approved.

He is also required to stay away from public parks, swimming pools or anywhere else young people are generally expected to be. He is not allowed to be in the presence of minors unless they are accompanied by an adult who is aware of Spence's sexual deviance.

According to a summary of the hearing, Spence's age and a lack of evidence to indicate he has reoffended since 1981 also contributed to the recommendation for his release. A psychiatrist who evaluated Spence before he was sentenced described him as belonging "to that category of pedophile that after a decade has moved on to other interests."

TT - The victims must feel a whole lot better knowing he has another hobby.

NO ENGLISH, PLEASE

Foretaste of the future?

September 1, 2008 - The kindergarten teacher has worked through the summer translating everything in sight to create an English-free zone for kindergartners.

No English (native-language tongue) will be allowed in the classroom once school starts. Science and math will be taught in Spanish. In other rooms, English will be the language. It's not a one-year thing. The intention is to last throughout a child's education, so this year's kindergartners will be taking some Spanish-only classes until they graduate high school.
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You might ask where. It's Richmond, Virginia. Where 84% of the students are black, 8% are Hispanic, and 7% are classified as white. Source: GreatSchools.net Students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch program = 67%

Posters at the article strongly disagree.

I challenge this teaching method. I do not think this is a good idea on the scale at which it is being implemented.

AND,

I strongly disagree with this initiative. Give them the option in high school, but don't force it down their throats in kindergarten. We need to teach children (at all levels) how to be responsible, respectful of themselves and others. Educate them (in high school) how to balance a checkbook and use credit responsibly. Young people lack so many basic skills, but thats ok, because they are fluent in spanish. Lets get back to the basics before this country falls apart even more!

AND,

English is the official language of this country. Make foreign language an elective in higher education. Do not force spanish or any foreign language to anyone. Those foreigners should adjust to us, not us to' adjust to them. Your idea is full of bull. Be American or none at all. Cannonball.

AND,

This is wrong. Ban English for large periods of time in an American school? It speeds us on our way to being a bilingual nation. Every bilingual nation has problems: Canada, Belgium, even the Republic of Georgia. English unifies us. Let them learn Chinese, German, French, Arabic. As a "liberal" this disturbs me; the very fabric of the nation is being altered.

TT - To which we might add, it is also useful to create a Black/Hispanic voting block with no loyalty to our language, our customs, our history or our future.

Byron Center, MICHIGAN

When we say that students are excoriated when they step forward, we aren't kidding. Some of the most vicious remarks come from the sources you would least expect.

See comments at this story. And, especially this from a self-described "parent, child advocate, and teacher."

WOW! What about this case does make sense?
1. The charge? unclothed-NO
2. The proof? a disgruntled, failing student-well then
3. An individual with no history of questionable behavior

As a parent, child advocate, and teacher, I feel sickened by the charge and the verdict. I have witnessed "witch hunts" against both students and teachers. IT COULD HAPPEN TO ANYONE! I believe that administrators fear public outcry and react. Children have observed situations in the media and have learned to manipulate facts to suit their purpose. And frightened (or vendictive) parents believe their children. I probably would have believed mine! Another concern is for the "victim." When she begins to consider the consequences of her lies, her mental health will suffer? Where are the morals in the prosecutor, "victim," and administrators who know this to be false.

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TT - The teacher who was convicted is Steven Sanger. A jury took two hours to find him guilty of attempting to capture or distribute an image of an unclothed person. During closing arguments in the trial, his defense attorney said witnesses were mistaken in what they saw.

Four students testified that they saw the incident. The prosecution said they found other "up-skirt" photos that were shot in his classroom. A school secretary testified that she saw him wandering around distraught and muttering to himself: "I think I went too far this time." "He said he wasn't sure if he'd taken the picture or not," she said. TT entry for Sanger.

Makes you sad that a self-described teacher can't spell vindictive when he or she is so clearly in need of understanding what the word means. But it also makes you appreciate why students hesitate to come forward to report wrongdoing. You have to be hero material to want to put yourself through that kind of viciousness.

To those students and their families, thank you for doing the right thing.

Fairhope, ALABAMA

Punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Seven-year sentence suspended to three years probation.

June 12, 2008 - Andrew Newton, 46, a teacher at J. Larry Newton school, was sentenced to seven hears in prison - SUSPENDED - to three years of supervised probation.

In April, a jury convicted Newton, 46, of interfering with the parental custody of a former student who he said he was trying to help escape from a troubled home life. The jury acquitted Newton on charges of solicitation of a child by computer and enticing a child for immoral purposes.

Full Name: Andrew Neil Newton

CONVICTION Apil 12, 2008 - Several teachers testified during the four-day trial, and said that Newton was obligated to tell a school counselor if he suspected a student was being abused at home.

Interference with custody is a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Baldwin County Assistant District Attorney Michael Pylant said prosecutors would seek the maximum sentence.

"He was obsessing on this kid, and his parents intervened," Pylant said. "And (Newton) tried to cut them out. He was very controlling over a 14-year-old boy he had no legal right to manipulate."

The school - J. Larry Newton - is named for his uncle, a former Baldwin schools superintendent.

ADDITIONAL INFO From the Press-Register (June 13) - Not mentioned in this previous story, is that the teenager and his family testified.

The teen, his stepfather and mother testified that Newton
disrupted their lives. The teen moved to a northern Alabama city last year to escape the former teacher and the publicity, they said.

"We will never have that time back with him," his mother said.

And a colleage of Newton's also testified - on Newton's behalf.

Newton, his family and a former colleague, however, argued that the educator might have made missteps, but with good intentions. They said that Newton, a single father of children ages 19 and 13, has suffered enough by losing his livelihood and reputation.

The district attorney said that Newton has expressed no remorse and essentially blames the crime on the victim.

After the sentencing, Newton said he was relieved that he didn't have to go to jail, but remains perplexed on how he ended up spending his father's 72nd birthday at a sentencing hearing.

TT - the lowercase judge™ is Baldwin County Circuit Judge James H. Reid.

Seattle, WASHINGTON

STORY OF THE DAY

One teacher said, "I know that I can't rely on my employer to protect kids."

June 4, 2008 - From the Seattle Times: School's culture failed to stop abuser, written by Jonathan Martin and Ken Armstrong was described by The Oregonian as an "outrage story."

From the Seattle Times' story:

In April, Seattle Public Schools settled a lawsuit filed on behalf of two of Hill's victims for $3 million. Depositions, personnel files and other records from that lawsuit expose a school's culture of fear and confusion, and they explain how Hill managed to remain a teacher for so long.

At least 30 times since the late 1980s, teachers and staff warned administrators at North Seattle's Broadview-Thomson Elementary School of their suspicions about Hill, lawyers for the two girls say. The Seattle School District disputes that figure but does admit to five warnings.

State law requires school personnel to report suspected abuse to police or Child Protective Services, but teachers kept their concerns in-house, hewing to a school policy that says go to an administrator. Once passed along, their complaints almost always died, with no investigation, no discipline, no calls to outside investigators.

Teachers who'd witnessed Hill's troubling behavior struggled with what to do. And, due to principals' lax documentation, their concerns weren't pieced together to reveal Hill for what he was.

Hill, now 58, left behind a host of teachers disillusioned about their school district — and fearful the same thing could happen again. One teacher, Mollie Boswell, said later: "I know that I can't rely on my employer to protect kids."

Read the whole thing.
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TT - The story is by no means an isolated case because we have seen it repeated over and over again in one variant or another. It's the reason why school districts pay out millions to victims and their families. Because they have to. Usually, however, you don't find out what the school did that caused them to be liable. And, convenient for them, no local newspaper demands answers. The Seattle Times, however, filed a public records request to gain access to depositions and other documents from a lawsuit that exposed the reasons why the school district paid $3 million to the family of two girls.

Noisy, vociferous, uninformed parent protests on behalf of a "popular teacher" created timid administrators who wanted to avoid the confrontation, followed by administrators who didn't want to tackle the job, helped to set up a pattern that warned teachers how useless it was to complain. Nevertheless, they did.

At least 15 teachers and staff reported inappropriate behavior to successive school administrators. Teachers knew they were to contact Child Protective Services when they suspected a parent of molesting a child but when a teacher was suspected of the same thing they were supposed to notify an administrator.

Administrators did not document the complaints nor, apparently, investigate the allegations.

Insane school district policies dictated by teacher union contracts serve to protect the teacher at the expense of the student. Under the current teachers' contract, schools must destroy personnel files at the end of each year and start anew. Only records forwarded to the central office remain. Even the "new" training is utterly useless, leaving teachers more puzzled than before.

Shamefully, no administrator will be charged for failing to follow mandatory reporting requirements. Ironically, failing to document teacher complaints helps to insulate an administrator from criminal prosecution.

Meanwhile, Laurence "Shayne" Hill molested these two girls for years.

In the classroom.

He ultimately admitted molesting up to 13 girls — and in 2005 was sentenced to five years to life. Entry for Hill

Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA

April 30, 2008 - In Los Angeles, Steven Rooney, 39, assistant Principal at Markham Middle School, who was arrested in March and faces charges of lewd acts against a 13-year-old girl, was charged Monday with molesting two other students, one a 14-year-old girl at Markham and another girl he is accused of molesting in 2005.

Rooney was accused of molesting a 15-year-old girl in 2005. When no criminal charges were filed because she refused to cooperate, he was appointed assistant principal at Markham. It was in complete defiance of school district policy that dictates that the Los Angeles Unified School District conduct a thorough investigation even if charges are not filed. Common sense alone dictates if someone has been accused of sexual exploitation of a child, you don't make him assistant principal of a middle school. But, hey, it's Los Angeles.

The entry for Rooney is here.

The school district held a meeting with parents at the school that a Los Angeles Times columnist attended. The story illustrates how smug and condescending the school district is as they lectured parents on how to protect their children as if any problems was the fault of the parents. TT entry

SCHOOL RATING Markham Middle School rates a 1 (out of 10, 10 being best) at GreatSchools.net for poor academic performance that even by Los Angeles standards is abysmal. Only 53% of the teachers at the school are fully credentialed. Some 20% are first-year teachers. Unsuprisingly, student population is 71% Hispanic and 27% Black.

Battle Ground, WASHINGTON

Sex-starved, middle-aged women having sex with teenage boys, now this story.

March 19, 2008 - A father of a Battle Ground student plans to address the school board on its policies on reporting abuse to police and state child services. He should know. His daughter was was a fifth-grader in 2002 when she told the principal and vice-principal that Thomas Moody had been touching her appropriately.

Their reaction when the girl reported the abuse? They had Moody apologize to the girl. And then they sent both teacher and student back to the classroom. To a classroom where Moody continued to abuse her. She was one of 10 identified victims in a criminal case against the teacher in 2005. Moody was convicted of six counts of communicating with minors for immoral purposes.

Moody was sentenced again in December 2007 for possessing child pornography while on probation. He is now in prison, serving a 17-month sentence. TT - entry

Court documents show that the principal resigned shortly afterward, but for a different reason — arriving at school intoxicated.

Notably, the gir's attorney wrote a detailed letter to the girl’s parents on March 8 about what she perceived to be the district’s shortcomings with regard to reporting abuse.

She wrote: “In the files we received in discovery concerning other allegations of child abuse against BGSD employees, it was apparent that BGSD officials believed it to be appropriate to conduct their own investigation before reporting allegations to (Child Protective Services) or law enforcement, even interviewing the potential victims and the accused employee in cases of serious allegations.”

TT - OOI= Our own investigation. That's where school officials, without any training and absent any knowledge of the law or evidence collection, conduct their own "investigations" which allows them to discourage the victim from pursuing legal remedies, witnesses to be intimidated, and the destruction of evidence.

Thank you for state correction.

Coral Springs, FLORIDA

Tough decision. He's been suspended since 2005. Was convicted in January 2007 of fondling a boy. Should we fire him? A year later he is finally going to prison.

Original story dated August 1, 2007 -
Barry Silver, 49, a Coral Springs High School teacher, was convicted in January on four counts of third-degree sexual assault. He was arrested after he fondled an 11-year-old boy while on vacation there in 2004. He'll be sentenced on Thursday, but in the meantime, the school board will decide Tuesday whether to fire him. Silver has been suspended since 2005.

Oh, and then there were those previous "incidents."

[Silver was] disciplined twice before following similar incidents while he was teaching at Olsen Middle in Dania Beach.

In 1998, a state Department of Education disciplinary committee reprimanded Silver and put him on probation for three years in connection with one of the earlier complaints.

Check out the charges against another teacher - Judith Richka, 53. What an agonizing decision there, too.
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GUILTY VERDICT & SENTENCING March 11, 2008 - In January 2007 , Silver was was found guilty of four counts of third-degree sexual assault. Originally scheduled for March 2007, Silver’s sentencing was delayed for about a year as the defense unsuccessfully sought a new trial. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

His attorney said Silver was contesting his termination from employment with the Department of Education in Florida. The lawyer also asked that Silver be allowed to remain free on bail while his conviction is appealed. The judge denied the request.

Grand Coulee, WASHINGTON

There are times when updates make you angry. All over again.

In Grand Coulee, Washington, Vernon E. Heizer, a sixth-grade teacher was scheduled to go to trial on Tuesday. The trial was postponed and rescheduled for March 27 where he is expected to plea.

Heizer was arrested in July 2007. He was booked on suspicion of second-degree rape of a child, third-degree rape of a child, third-degree child molestation and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes. It is alleged that he initiated a sexual relationship with her that lasted the better part of a year.

Vernon Heizer is 50. The student was 14 years old.

TT entry.

And then there are times when you have hope.

A middle school principal is adamantly opposed to probation for Montgomery "Monty" Koons. In November 2007, Koons pleaded three counts of aggravated statutory rape and was sentenced to four years in prison. However, he applied for probation or judicial diversion. A judge will decide in March.

The middle school principal, Bruce Lay, wrote to Criminal Court Judge Don Elledge in December. He wrote that “I am not in support of callling it even and reducing the consequences for Monty’s unlawful activities.

“Monty is a 51-year-old adult who has consistently demonstrated the ability to discern between wrong and right.”

Lay’s letter also stated that the principal has been disappointed in past cases similar to the Koons’ case and that jail time is an appropriate consequence for adults who have sexually assaulted children.

“I feel we are sending the wrong message when a teacher who has been sexually involved with a minor simply receives probation,” Lay wrote. “Furthermore, it is my opinion that the practice of assigning such individuals probation is not sending a clear message that educators and authority figures are not to cross this line.”

Koons is 51. The girl was 15 years old.

TT entry. Tennessee is not noted for robust sentencing of child predators in the classroom.

Willimar, MINNESOTA

Feb 23, 2008 - The headline explains it all: Licensing board, teacher agree to monitoring

A Minnesota special education teacher will be monitored for the next two years because of allegations that she has mistreated students.

A stipulation agreement with the Minnesota Board of Teaching says no disciplinary action will be taken against her teaching licenses. The agreement also includes the provision that new allegations could lead to a reopened investigation and possibly to proceedings seeking to suspend her license.

Van Der Heiden has been the subject of complaints from two families in the past year. According to documents filed in federal court, she has been investigated by the state or school district five times in the past three years.

Links from the West Central Tribune:

Collection: Willmar special needs teacher case

PDF: Stipulation agreement on Lisa M. Vander Heiden's teaching license

tt - From the agreement: Van Der Heiden was represented by an Education Minnesota lawyer. Education Minnesota is an affiliate of the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers and AFL-CIO.

Brighton, COLORADO

Honestly, the air in Brighton, Colorado, must be thick with hashish fumes.

Dec 20, 2007 - The newest claim is that Brighton Collegiate High School social studies and German language teacher Ralph Kelly may have been conducting a gay teen sex survey.

Was the school aware of this gay teen sex survey?

Apparently, yes.“I overheard rumors of this survey and heard that it wouldn’t be done without parental permission,” board President Ken Mitchell said last week.

“But no, I was not aware of any of this going on. I’m not sure who may have been aware (of the survey). Maybe (Acting School Principal) Anthony (Matthews) knew about this,” Mitchell said.“But I think it’s just one deal, one kid, one instance.”

TT - Talk about clueless. And then there is this:

The Brighton Standard Blade has learned that another student went to Matthews several weeks before the reported assault at the school to report improper conduct by the same teacher.

Asking to remain anonymous, the student and his parent said they went to the school office after the student said he was approached by Kelly to answer questions and give input on the openly gay teen study.

“My son was embarrassed that he was thought to be gay because of his friendship with the victim,” the mother of this second victim stated. “After he was approached to answer these study questions, we went to Matthews’ office and reported it.

“He said he was aware of the sessions being conducted by Mr. Kelly,” the mother reported. “Matthews was aware of Kelly’s pursuit of students to participate in his study concerning openly gay teens in the high school.”

But Matthews saw things differently. “All we knew was that he had requested to do a diversity study,” Matthews said.“He brought the subject up with Ms. (Erin) Selleck,” Matthews said of the school’s dean of students.“She said she needed signed parental permission. We never saw anything in writing, no actual questions. We did not approve anything because the process was never followed through.”

No one seems to know anything. Kelly is the THIRD teacher in the 15-teacher school to be arrested. Link to Kelly

After McCandless and both Mundy's were sentenced, the charter school was renamed.

See David Mundy and Carrie McCandless and David Mundy, Sr.

Canton, MASSACHUSETTS

What kind of people don't question giving a student 77 shocks??????

Dec 19, 2007 - A prank phone call to Judge Rotenberg Educational Center resulted in school officials delivering 77 shocks to one student and 29 to another.

The "prankster" phoned in instructions for shock therapy on Aug 26. Both victims, males under the age of 22, were seen by medical professionals after the incident and later cleared, according to the school. Only one of the students has remained at the insitution since.

Rotenberg is a school for severely disabled or deeply disturbed children. It is the ONLY school in the U.S. that utilizes electric shock therapy. Many of the school's approximately 250 students are low-functioning autistic children who have been unsuccessful or expelled from other schools due to bad behavior. About half the students receive the therapy.

The state of Massachusetts has tried and failed to close the institution twice before because of its use of the electric shock treatment. One state senator sees aversive therapy as cruel and inhumane. "If this same treatment were allowed on terrorists in Guantanamo Bay, there would be worldwide outrage," he said. "It's incredible to me that it is going on today here in Massachusetts, and I do believe it should be stopped."

Chutzpah

Chutzpah is defined as "unmitigated effrontery or impudence; gall." A Jewish physicist described it as "Killing your mother and father, then throwing yourself on the mercy of the court because you're an orphan." That was funny before the Menedez brothers trial.

But there's a new low. And we don't mean describing a 13-year-old as the "lover" of teacher Kelsey Peterson.

Suitland, MARYLAND

ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS

Nov 26, 2007 - Charges have been dismissed against Nathaniel B. Thomas, the Prince George’s County school board member who was to have gone to trial for sexual abuse.

Prosecutors filed an incorrect address for Thomas in their charging documents.

A spokesman for county State’s Attorney Glenn F. Ivey acknowledged the mistake and said the charge would be refiled in the next two weeks.

TT - Link for Nathaniel Thomas

Shameful

We've spoken about the human cost of teachers who sexually abuse students. It isn't just the student. It's their families as well. Read the latest comment at the case of Philip Padilla to see how devastating it is for students and their families when communities turn against them.

Much of that effort organized against the victims and their families doesn't come from members of the community so much as passions inflamed by news stories that favor the perpetrator. These are usually stories based on a phone call from the defense attorney, a cagey quote from a school official. Or they may come from interviewing fellow students who are in no position to know and should not be asked to judge so prematurely. With so little information.

The backlash against victims and their families also comes from fellow teachers who knew and never reported the misconduct. And failed to confirm it after it became knowledge. And it comes from failure to condemn the action on every level by adults whose primary responsibility should be to children.

It's a disgrace that they call themselves human beings.

Rochester, NEW YORK

Even after his conviction by a jury, the case remains an outrage.

OUTRAGE OF THE DAY

He was suspended in 2000 while school administrators and the teachers union negotiated a deal that eventually sent him to another school.

Sentenced to three years in prison.

June 22, 2007 - A judge refused to dismiss charges against David Heil, 43, a Rochester teacher accused of sexually abusing a 10-year-old boy in 2000.

Heil was charged recently after the mother found out in October 2006 that he was still teaching when she was assured in 2000 that he would not be teaching again. After finding him teaching in 2006, she went to police and Heil was charged. Heil's lawyer asked for the dismissal on the grounds that the statute of limitations had expired. The judge disagreed.

When the mother reported the abuse in 2000, the school district did not report the incident to law enforcement despite the fact that they had a legal responsibility to do so as "mandated reporters," a point the judge made in his decision not to dismiss the case.

What the district did was the very reason why "mandated reporting" laws and laws criminalizing non-reporting were passed in the first place.

Heil was suspended while school administrators and the teachers union negotiated a deal that eventually sent him to another school.

The school district sent a report to the state Education Department as a potential moral failing, but the state did not act because of the agreement between the union and the school district.

Heil is scheduled to go on trial October 15.

The judge's decision. PDF

GUILTY VERDICT Oct 19 - A jury found Heil guilty of felony first-degree sexual abuse and misdemeanor child endangerment for putting his hands down the boy's pants and fondling him in April 2000.

Assistant District Attorney Douglas Randall, who told jurors during his summation that school officials double-crossed the boy's mother and lied to her, said after the verdict that the mother bears no fault for not contacting police immediately because she relied on the school district to report the incident.

School district administrators have maintained that they followed the law, as it existed in 2000, when they didn't report the abuse to a statewide abuse and neglect hot line. They said the district had no obligation to report the incident because Heil was not the boy's classroom teacher and was not legally responsible for him.

Heil will be sentenced Nov 21. He will remain in jail until his sentencing.

TT - If she needs help filing a lawsuit, we can take up a collection at this blog.

SENTENCED Nov 21 - Heil was sentenced to three years in prison. The state Education Department, which licenses teachers, is expected to conduct a separate disciplinary hearing to decide whether his license should be revoked.

Outrage of the Day

Few cases illustrate so perfectly the selfish exploitation of a child than that of Lauren Cosgrove, 28, accused of sexual assault of a 13-year-old boy.

She was arrested Wednesday for trying to contact the victim. From the initial arrest story in July, there was this from the newspaper:

According to the court records, the boy’s siblings told their parents they had seen him and his teacher go into his bedroom and shut the door numerous times. The boy admitted to the detective that he had sexual relations with her, the documents stated.“

He told his parents he and Lauren have plans to be together when he reaches the age of 18,” according to the document. “[The victim] said he was worried what the consequences for Lauren would be. He said he knew she was wrong for what she had done but [he] said he was also at fault. He said Lauren had told him she was afraid she would lose her children if anyone found out about their relationship.”

TT - What a burden to put on a child.

The latest arrest was a result of her contacting another student, a friend of the victim, asking him to arrange to speak to the 13-year-old so she could tell him what to say to make things better for her in court.

The fact that they let this woman out of jail on bail does not say much for judges or prosecutors in Denton, Texas. (By comparison, see how prosecutors dealt with Christopher Dumaine today.) And as we noted at her arrest, it's becoming obvious that teachers need pyschological testing before hiring and being given access to children.

Link to Cosgrove entry.
Bumped.

Portland, MAINE

Pseudo-Outrage of the Day

It would be an outrage anyplace else, but in Maine, it's kinda par for the course.

Oct 16, 2007 -

If the [Portland School] committee approves the King [Middle School] proposal, it would be the first middle school in Maine to make a full range of contraception available to some students in grades 6 to 8, said Nancy Birkhimer, director of teen health programs for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. Most middle schoolers are ages 11-13.

The need:

Of 134 students who visited King's health center during the 2006-07 school year, five students, or 4 percent, reported having sexual intercourse, said Amanda Rowe, lead nurse in Portland's school health centers.

"This is a service that is totally needed," Rowe said. "It's about very few kids, but they are kids who don't have the same opportunities and access as other students."

The percentage of middle school students in Maine who reported having sexual intercourse dropped from 23 percent in 1997 to 13 percent in 2005, according to the Maine Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

King Student Health Center's practice of providing condoms as part of its reproductive health program since it opened in 2000.

TT - Believe us, these people are proud of this.

Shrub Oak, NEW YORK

Such high hopes and such sordid reality.


And a sweetheart deal - she won't be able to teach for a year.
Talk about a wrist slap and c-o-n-n-e-c-t-i-o-n-s.

ARRESTED: May 11, 2007 -
Stephanie Gross, 24, a Lakeland High School social studies teacher, was arrested after police said she was seen having sexual contact with a 16-year-old boy in her parked car behind a restaurant.

Gross began teaching at several grade levels at Lakeland High School in September and is still on probation. Lakeland school district officials this afternoon began preparations to fire her and said she would not return to the school.

2003 profile: While she was in college at SUNY Oneonta, Gross was elected the student trustee on the State University of New York Board of Trustees in 2003. A double major in political science and secondary education, she had lofty ambitions at that time.

"First woman president? Sure, why not, if Hillary doesn't beat me to it," Gross told The Journal News at the time, referring to U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Gross has been charged with third-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child, misdemeanors. Her next court appearance is May 16.

May 16 - In court, Gross pleaded not guilty. The school board voted unanimously on Monday to fire Gross. Gross started teaching at Lakeland High - her alma mater - in September and was still on probation. She was making $53,020 a year, according to school records.

Her statement to police. pdf Reporters discuss the case. Audio.

July 17 - Gross is due in court tomorrow. A charge of endangering the welfare of a child carries a maximum penalty of one year in county jail; third-degree sex abuse carries a maximum penalty of three months.

CASE ADJOURNED: July 19 - The case against Gross was adjourned until Aug. 16.

CASE ADJOURNED: August 14 - The case has been adjourned again until Aug 22.
(Headline: Fired Lakeland teacher's student tryst case adjourned)

CASE ADJOURNED: August 22 - The case has been adjourned again until Sept 5.
(Headline: Case of teacher who had tryst with student adjourned)

PLEA DEAL: September 5 - Gross pleaded guilty today to disorderly conduct, a violation, and agreed to pay a $300 fine. The deal prohibits her from teaching anywhere for one year. She also has to relinquish her New York state teachers certification and is on probation for a year.

She was also ticketed for driving with a suspended license, a traffic violation.

ANOTHER Idiotic Headline Award Candidate: "Former Teacher Pleads Guilty in Tryst with Teen" and bizarre rationale:

Prosecutor Frederic Green said the reduced charges were based on conversations with the teenager and his parents, and on Gross' lack of a criminal record and several letters of support from community members. The teenager was also six weeks away from his 17th birthday, the age of consent in New York, at the time of the incident.